Emergency Contact Milly Brooks: What can Owners claim against a voyage Charterer who exceeds the permitted laytime? Home Latest updates News Milly Brooks: What can Owners claim against a voyage Charterer who exceeds the permitted laytime? 1 Apr 2021 Download Sign up for alerts A 2019 case in the English High Court established that Owners will no longer need to illustrate a separate breach of a charterparty to claim losses in addition to demurrage, provided that those losses are not damages for detention. This article looks at the judgment in K Line Pte Ltd v Priminds Shipping (HK) Co Ltd (The Eternal Bliss ) [2020] EWHC 2373 and the potential impact it has on Members. If, as the result of Charterers exceeding laytime, Owners suffer additional losses over and above the inability to earn freight, Owners are within their rights to claim those additional losses without having to establish any additional breach by Charterers. Facts K-Line (the Claimant) and Priminds (the Defendant) entered into a Contract of Affreightment (COA) on the basis of the Norgrain form 1974. For the voyage in question, the Owners nominated the M/V Eternal Bliss to carry soybeans from Brazil to China. After Notice of Readiness (NOR) was tendered, the vessel remained at anchorage for a further 31 days due to port congestion and limited shore storage availability. When the cargo was eventually discharged, the cargo was noted as damaged due to moulding and caking. The cargo claim itself was settled amicably through subrogated insurers. The Owners then commenced arbitration proceedings against Priminds arguing that in addition to demurrage, Owners were also entitled to additional damages for losses suffered due to the resulting cargo claim, in this case, their liability to cargo interests following deterioration of the cargo. Judgment In the judgment, Justice Andrew Baker reiterated that the demurrage rate is an agreed sum quantified by the parties at the time of entering into the contract to compens